In recent years, vehicles and the field of automotive maintenance have experienced rapid growth in computerized systems both within automotive vehicles and in computerized diagnostic tools that identify maintenance issues with the vehicles. For example, most modern vehicles include one or more computer systems that are often referred to as an electronic control unit (ECU). In some vehicles, the ECU controls and monitors the operations of numerous systems including, but not limited to, the engine, steering, tires, transmission, brakes, fuel delivery or battery level monitoring, and climate control systems. Some vehicles also include numerous sensors that monitor various aspects of the operation of the vehicle and generate sensor data. The ECU receives the sensor data and is configured to generate diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) if the sensor data indicate that one or more systems in the vehicle may be failing or operating outside of predetermined parameters.
Many vehicles use a controller area network (CAN) vehicle bus to transmit data between the ECU and the onboard sensors and components in the vehicle. The CAN bus, or other equivalent data networks in a vehicle, provides a common communication framework between the ECU and the various sensors and systems in the vehicle. Additionally, the CAN bus or equivalent network enables communication between the ECU and external diagnostic tools.
Diagnostic tools are typically digital computers having communication ports and input/output devices configured to interface with the ECU via the CAN bus. Some diagnostic tools include display screens, which visually relay information to a mechanic and enable the mechanic to perform tests and send commands to the ECU. The ECU and the diagnostic tools interfaced therewith often use an industry standard protocol, such as a version of the on-board diagnostics (OBD) protocol, including the OBD-II protocol.
Some of the data generated by the ECU is of interest to the operator of the vehicle. The operator, however, typically does not desire to purchase the diagnostic tools used by service professionals that are commonly used to access the ECU data. Additionally, the typical diagnostic tools used by service professionals require at least some configuration to display the information that is of interest to the operator. For at least these reasons, the operator of the vehicle typically foregoes accessing the data of interest that is generated by the ECU.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a method and system for an operator of a vehicle to conveniently access at least some of the data generated by the ECU.